Chapter Sixteen
Ahsoka Tano opened her eyes to the infirmary of the Resolute, the ship being apparently in orbit still around Geonosis. The droid assigned to her beeped the custom greeting, and informed her that she had been unconscious for a day and a half. That explained her hunger. The droid's incessant rambling over her wounds also explained why she felt hurt all over. Her ribs had cracked. Her right arm had broken -thankfully a clean split, and it had already been fixed. The Force would help in her recovery, but nothing beat a bacta tank dip, which the droid had already subjected her to while she had been unconscious.
Her Master, on the other hand, appeared like a lighthouse in the back of her mind, fiercely burning and probably the reason she had woken up abruptly. It felt as if he were in the room, watching over her with his usual half-amused and half-puzzled gaze. Seriously, if it weren't for her knowing he was systems away, she'd think he was just outside the door of the infirmary.
"Cliché number one, padawan," her Master's voice reached her ears, and made her widen her eyes as she realized the door of the infirmary had slid open, "The last person you expect to come through a set of doors is usually the first one that comes through," he added as he took a seat next to her bed. The droid left after stressing out how 'rest and relaxation' was at the order of the day, and Ahsoka groaned, biting her lower lip. Her master's arms were hidden in his sleeves, but she could feel there was something wrong in it.
Her Master caught on, and slowly removed his right hand for her to gaze at. It was bandaged.
"I kind of remembered about Energy Immunity as a perk of the Force while I was falling to my doom in the lava," he acquiesced. "As for why there was lava on Ruusan, it turns out that with enough application of the Force, the terms 'Planet Crust' and 'Planet Mantle' are meaningless. The Force Nexus on that planet is now no longer available," he sighed, muttering something about 'a cosmic joke', "But I'm glad you're alive and well, padawan. And not buried inside a tank under the rubble."
Ahsoka nodded very slowly, as if trying to avoid sparking another bout of madness from her Master -or another dose of strange words. "Uhm, Master, hadn't Master Yoda prohibited you from coming to Geonosis?"
"I am not on Geonosis, padawan," her Master replied. "I am in orbit around the planet, but I am not on the planet's surface. And...well, I reckoned for some things, it is best to be there in person," he looked at her with a serious gaze, and patted her forehead gently. "I'm proud of you."
Ahsoka blinked, and then grinned brightly at the praise. Her Master stopped patting her forehead and turned to look at the rest of the empty infirmary. "Many of the wounded have already been transported off planet and back to Coruscant for treatment. Come tomorrow, we'll leave for the Jedi temple where you'll be able to recuperate with more ease."
Ahsoka nodded, and winced as she tried to stand up. She relented when a hand flicked her forehead. "Doctor's orders are to stay down, padawan."
She grumbled a few choice words on doctors and overbearing masters, but obeyed. She then looked up at the ceiling, her thoughts still in disarray over what had happened. It was such a blissful moment of peace that she didn't want to ruin it by asking a few unpleasant questions that might chip the paint off. Unfortunately, a few minutes later her curiosity won out once again.
"Master," Ahsoka began, "What happened?"
"The Valley of the Jedi, also known as the Valley of Souls, was a place where the old Sith academy of the Way of Darkness resided. Prior to the rule of Two, established by Darth Bane, it was a place where Sith trained. There, their leader created a terrifying weapon known as 'Thought Bomb', that once used destroyed every single Sith and Jedi on the planet, such was its power. What remained behind however was a Force Nexus, a powerful area where the Force is more easily accessed. I thought of drawing the power there while freeing the souls trapped in order to turn the war in our favor with a massive, galaxy-wide Battle Meditation technique," here he sighed. "Unfortunately, the Dark Side of the Force over there overpowered me, and if you hadn't been there to help me through our bond, I would have probably fallen to the Dark Side yet again."
Ahsoka swallowed thickly, her throat constricted. "Yet...again?" she asked in a weak voice.
"You read the report of the battle of Geonosis," her Master said dutifully. "You felt it through our bond. My anger...you faced but a fragment of it," he exhaled. "Yet dealing with that probably saved my life, Padawan."
"Master Yoda used to say that once you fell to the Dark Side, there was no way back," Ahsoka acquiesced.
"Master Yoda is a venerable person who, unfortunately, hasn't got the mental elasticity of a young person. Dark or Light, it's trifling easy to fall. Each time you laugh at a joke? You're showing emotion, but that doesn't turn you into Dark Broody Mac Angsty Dark Side Sith, does it?" her Master drawled out. "And when you're showing utter lack of emotion and letting the slavers go on with their life enslaving people, you aren't acting like Paladin Mac Light Side Happy Chirpy Friendship Is Magic."
Her master shuddered.
"Friendship...is Magic?" Ahsoka hazarded. "That sounds..."
"No," her Master replied firmly, locking eyes with her. "You will not ask me about it." Ahsoka flinched at the tone that brokered no argument, but beneath the tone, there was the tired resignation that if she really wanted to know, then he'd cave and tell her. Ahsoka grinned at that. Without the Bond, she'd just assume him to be a veritable bastard and leave it at that, or seek answers elsewhere. Here, he was simply avoiding a pointless conversation on something that didn't matter, and that simply annoyed him.
But she was in the mood for some teasing, and since she couldn't move at all...
"Even if I ask pretty please?" Ahsoka said. "With sprinkled Akul on top?"
Her Master gurgled a curse in the back of his throat and brought a hand to cover his face. "I called this upon myself," he conceded in the end. Ahsoka simply smiled.
"Friendship is magic...comes from a very old cartoon..." her master wasn't really looking forward to this, and as Ahsoka gave him a puzzled look, a few images assaulted her.
"...talking, colorful, horses with magic?" Ahsoka hazarded.
"Ponies, actually," her Master acquiesced. Ahsoka gave him a puzzled look.
Her Master raised an eyebrow at her silent thought, and then chuckled. He chuckled and then he laughed. He laughed, and Ahsoka returned a perplexed stare.
"What? It's a perfectly valid question!"
"W-Why," her Master wiped away a fake tear from his eyes. "Why didn't I...you're a carnivore...of course, I keep forgetting it," he chuckled louder. "Ah, ahah...no," he said in the end through wheezes, "I don't think the different colors meant they tasted differently. And no, no horse was roasted over a spit."
Ahsoka grumbled a 'What's the point of a show on talking food then?' and closed her eyes.
"I spoke with Knight Thel-Tanis," Ahsoka said after a short moment of silence. Her Master had meanwhile reclined his back against the chair, seemingly content in keeping a watchful gaze over her. At her words, he simply resigned himself to listen to something he'd be inclined to disagree with. Ahsoka was starting to think this 'Bond' thing was sometimes useful, and sometimes not-so-useful. He didn't even know what she was going to say, and yet he was already going to decline it!
"The bond works both way, Padawan."
"Master, you shouldn't read your padawan's mind, it's not fair," Ahsoka retorted hotly, sticking her tongue out and receiving a mental reply of 'childish'. She huffed and crossed her arms, because she definitely wasn't childish. No, she wasn't, but someone who stuck their tongue out, spoke out of turn, acted on their own emotions wasn't clearly the epitome of maturity.
So spoke her master, who was anything but in control of his emotions.
"That was a low blow, padawan." Right. Mind-Reading off, please.
Ahsoka took a deep breath. "I think, master, that maybe you don't need to worry too much about forging bonds. I managed it pretty well, and I wasn't expecting it when it first happened. I'm sure the others would at least like to talk with you once more."
Her Master shook his head, and she dropped that particular argument. "Then again, I'm curious," Ahsoka said. "If you've isolated yourself from other Jedi to avoid forming bonds, why did Master Yoda allow you to teach me?"
"Because with years, bonds between a master and a student form naturally," her Master replied. "That we possess such a strong bond in such a short time is due to my ability, but it would have come naturally with time. Master Yoda believed it would help if I avoided isolating myself, and thus chose the most reckless, yet also most light-sided, Padawan he could find."
Master Shade remained silent after that, his mind lost in thoughts, but this time she couldn't get through them. There was a lot of static, if she could say so, and thus she resigned herself to actually sleeping-wait.
"What game did you play with Knight Thel-Tanis and the others?" Ahsoka asked.
"Dungeons and Dragons," her master replied. "Three point five edition, I basically knew it by heart," he acquiesced with a small chuckle. "It was cute, watching these kids stammer around. Instead of dices, I had to use paper cards on which I wrote all the numbers from one to one hundred, and I had them pick a card from the deck depending on the number. I made more than one deck, so everyone would be able to play at the same time, and-"
"You still have a deck or two around?" Ahsoka asked, and her Master grinned sheepishly as he carefully removed from the inner sleeves of his robes two decks of cards, if covered in plastic and with numbers rather than figures on them.
"I kept them," he acquiesced. "As the Dungeon Master, it was my duty to oversee the game." He handed a deck over to Ahsoka, and then mumbled a 'here we go again', before removing from another sleeve a paper with some words scribbled near it, stuff like 'Character Name' and 'Class' and 'Hit Points'. "There are a lot of classes you can choose for your character. There's the Ranger, the Rogue, the Sorcerer, the Wizard, the Fighter, the Druid, the Cleric -I really suggest a Cleric by the way- and the Bard."
Ahsoka frowned. Something wasn't right. Her master was-
"And the Paladin," her master said lamely, grumbling a few curses in his tongue beneath his breath. "I reckon you'll end up playing the Paladin, I suspect. The Lawful Good character who strictly adheres to a code of ethics and pursues it until-"
"Actually Master," Ahsoka murmured, "I wanted to know more about the Bard."
Her Master closed his mouth and looked at her in shock. His eyes were both wide, and as he carefully inclined his head to the side, a question ran across his head. He was wondering if she had hit her head against something hard. Well, yes, she had, but that wasn't the point. It was that her Master had been fond of the 'Bard', and somehow, she had felt it was kind-of the right class to play.
"A Bard is a class that plays itself heavily to interpretation and roleplay," her Master acquiesced. "They're the dashing thief with the rose in hand, the charismatic singer who steals the hearts of the ladies, but also the knowledgeable mysterious men and women sitting at the counter of seedy inns, having the knowledge the brave party of adventurers seek. They can be played straight, or for fun. Their performances can, with practice, touch even the coldest of hearts. They use their wits, quick thinking, and diplomacy, to get through most troubles. They rarely rely on brute force."
Ahsoka grinned. Her Master sighed.
"I roll knowledge History for the true name of the Pharaoh of the Tomb of Never-Ending Despair!" Ahsoka said with a broad grin. Her Master watched with dread as she flipped a card, and it turned out to be a seventeen, which coupled with her bonus of plus twenty, resulted in her character -having Focused Ability Knowledge History, plus eight in intelligence modifier due to magic items, and maximum amount of ranks possible in the skill- utterly lying through her teeth at the Pharaoh of the Tomb of Never-Ending Despair by proclaiming, "I am your most loyal servant, oh great Pharaoh Tutanagonius," Ahsoka said in a reverential voice, "Pardon me, but your gran cleric wished my existence secret to spy on backstabbing unfaithful out for your temporary weakness."
Her Master sighed once more, and shook his head as he drew up a card. It was a one on perception. No matter the modifier, it couldn't be plus thirty-six. There was just no way. "The Pharaoh believes your lie, oh lucky bard Shaoka Nota, and speaks with a deep and grave voice which makes the room quake and tremble-"
"You really like to say 'Quake and tremble' master. It's like the twentieth time a room 'quakes and trembles' with your characters speaking, and-"
"It's poor architecture on the tomb," her Master replied offhandedly, and Ahsoka winced. Yes, her master had this utterly horrendous ability of coming up with plot hooks and extra plot lore on the fly, and it was damn annoying -damn fun too, because if she paid attention to a peculiar painting, an entire back-story rose in the back of her master's head about it, but at the same time, every time she remarked on something strange, he added a justification for it. A justification that resulted in even worse shit happening. It's not possible for a mirror to hang upside down? Well, the mirror's actually a mirror-mimic and it's coming down to devour you!
Or, 'It's not possible for a tomb to have a breeze deep below'. It's actually an Air Elemental gone mad with the time spent in there, and thus comes to attack!
Seriously. Her Master really needed to find better excuses, or plan the campaign a bit better than 'on the fly'.
"In fact, as the pharaoh finishes his pompous speech on his magnificence, the walls begin to crack," her Master said. "Within moments, dust and debris start to fall, as the Pharaoh commands you to make the earthquake cease."
"I sing a very loud song," Ahsoka replied dutifully. "Possibly, my voice must bounce off a rock over the Pharaoh's head. Meanwhile, I move towards the exit of the room."
"Are you sure?" her Master remarks. "Make me a check on perform, and one on bluff."
Ahsoka grinned even more as she pulled up a-wait a moment. It was supposed to be an eighteen!
"You know, padawan," her Master spoke with a firm and even voice, quite flat too, and his eyes narrowed to thin slits. "I have had players who 'rolled' their dice and thought to lie on the result because I was far away, or picked them up before I could get to them to see what number it really was. And I played with Jedi who used the force to silently shuffle the deck in their favor, thinking I would not notice. Guess what, Padawan?" his face drew near as he took an utter delight in making her afraid. He then neared her ear, and whispered softly, as if he were a vampire waiting for the moment to chew on her neck, or Hannibal Lecter hungry for food -who was Hannibal Lecter, she didn't know. "I allowed it until the moment of truth. In that moment," his face drew back as he picked with his hand two cards, "I left it to the Dice Gods to decide the punishment."
A one and a two showed in front of Ahsoka as the girl's eyes widened in fear. Her character. Shaoka Nota. No. Her beautiful character. No. She couldn't die out of-
"You try, but you stumble. The pharaoh understands and sees through your deception," her Master's voice was filled with utter delight as he spoke -Killer of Characters! Butcherer of Hope! Destroyer of Parties! Thy name is Master Shade! No, worse than that! You are God Shade, God of Death of your players' characters!- "And as he lifts his scepter, a dark, bellowing sphere of darkness spreads in front of him. It is a sphere of Ultimate Annihilation," her master smiled broadly. "And as he makes the check to control it-" a card is flipped, her master quiets down, then speaks again, "the sphere starts to move towards your character."
"I run away!" Ahsoka blurted. She couldn't allow Shaoka Nota to die! Not like that!
"The door out of the room starts to grind down. Reflex check!" Her master is amused. He is more than amused. There is utter delight in his voice as he delivers punishment upon the treacherous liar, the betrayer of the will of the Dice Gods, the impudent knave that dared to cheat upon one of his mighty quests.
There is no mercy for he who cheats in a quest of Shade.
Ahsoka closed her eyes and fervently prayed for the right card, but unfortunately, as she picked it up her eyes saw the truth etched in Master Shade's own mind. She wasn't going to make it unless- and then a five emerged from the deck. Ahsoka's shoulders fell as she realized there was no way out. She'd fail the test. The sphere would near and her character would die. There was-
"i throw a bolt to disarm-"
"You lack the required feat," her Master remarked. "I did tell you that it was available at character creation," mostly because he didn't remember the requirements for it, "But you preferred a focus ability 'bluff'."
"Fuck it," Ahsoka bit her lips. "I prepare an action. Next round he checks to control the sphere, I shoot to distract him."
Her Master brought up an eyebrow, and acquiesced with a single nod. She picked up a card for the To Hit roll. Her master nodded, and picked up a card for concentration.
Then, he shuffled the deck and stood up.
"This is it," her Master said.
Ahsoka looked up, wide-eyed, at her Master. "What? Wait! What does it mean? Did-Did I win? Did I lose?"
"Your character is dead, Ahsoka Tano. The Sphere of Ultimate Annihilation destroyed her and left behind nothing but ashes." Her Master spoke with a very soft voice, as if revealing to her that she had lost a dearly beloved one. Ahsoka looked down at her lap and trembled slightly. Her character was still alive. She had her sheet right in her hands. She could-she could bring her back. There had to be a way to bring her back.
"What...why?" she asked. "It was just...Just a failed check. I know I cheated, but-but..."
"Padawan," her Master replied. "Although losing your first character is tough, eventually, you will get over it." Here, her master smiled. "And then you'll make another. And another, and another, and you'll have fun with them too. In the end, however, you'll never forget the feeling of your first character," his right hand gingerly tapped her at the center of her chest, where her heart was. "Remember that feeling. That is the key essence of roleplaying. The sense of bitter loss at having lost..." here he grinned, and the card he picked revealed itself to be a one. "And the sense of utter elation at having won. I lied. Your character successfully manages to confound the Pharaoh, who loses control of the sphere that in its round, turns on the mummy and destroys it. The rod is next, and with it the sphere dissipates."
Ahsoka's eyes widened at the notion, and she literally jumped with a 'yes!' as an exclamation, hugging her master by the neck tight -and letting go with a painful gasp the next moment, since her chest and ribs still hurt and protested the strain.
"Gah!" her eyes watered. "Y-You stupid master!"
"Now it has gotten late, padawan," her Master said. "We've been playing for eight hours straight, and I need to eat and rest. You do the same, and tomorrow we'll depart for Coruscant."
As her Master began to walk away, Ahsoka looked at his retreating back, and the moment he was out, she sighed and closed her eyes.
She knew, beyond a ken of doubt, that her master had picked up a ten as a card from his deck. And ten would have been enough to resist losing concentration.
Her master had simply been kind enough to give her a happy ending, even when she didn't deserve it.
...
Her Master was mad.
But he was also very kind.
Really.
She had such a very strange master.
